Every season we save a small jar of seeds from the strongest plants in the kebun. It costs nothing and it teaches the kebun to be a little more itself each year.
The plants we save
- Tomato — pick the most generous plant, ferment the seeds for two days in a glass.
- Chili — let one or two fruits ripen until red and dry on the vine.
- Bayam — let a row go to seed; sweep the seedheads into a paper bag.
A few rules
Save from the best, never from the last.
We label every jar with the variety and the harvest month. By the time the next season rolls around, we know what we have, what germinates well, and what to swap with neighbours at the kampung exchange.
It is the slowest, most stubborn way to make the kebun sturdier.